TMP Government: Digital Marketing and Media Solutions

TMP Government Redesigns Recovery.gov

TMP Government is proud to announce that at 12:01 A.M. on September 28, 2009, Recovery.gov 2.0 was launched. TMP Government was part of the team lead by Smartronix, and delivered a world class site in just under two and a half months.

Recovery.gov is the U.S. government’s official website providing easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 awarded funds to over 45,000 unique recipients, through 80,000-plus unique awards, with approximately 190,000 incremental funding and modifications – all of which are tracked on Recovery.gov. It is the first time this level of transparency has ever been attempted by the federal government. The site's mission is not only to provide the information but also to allow for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse of Recovery funds.

TMP Government was chosen for this groundbreaking project because of our expertise in digital government outreach communications and award winning website design. We provided design, usability testing/analysis, content development, data visualization modules, Graphical User Interface (GUI) design, map interface design, IxD and Content Management System (CMS) template designs for Recovery.gov 2.0. The site features include intuitive/functional navigation, a media kit and press FAQs, and the capability to translate 51 languages via Google Translator. TMP Government also conducted focus groups in five cities and usability testing across the U.S. Along with the site, TMP Government designed and branded four social networking sites for Recovery.gov – YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

The challenge in developing the new Recovery.gov was to design a tool simple and accessible enough to allow any member of the American public to find information on Recovery projects and programs in their neighborhood, but complex enough to serve the more advanced needs of developers and other users seeking specific data and looking for downloads and sophisticated tools.

This is the first phase of a three and a half year program. TMP Government will continue to work with the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, and the rest of the Smartronix team, to add features and functionality to the site. In the future, the maps will include even more options for viewing and comparing data. Additional planned heat maps include one that displays diversity distribution across the nation with agency or recipient locations and one that compares unemployment rates with the number of jobs created and saved by Recovery funding – by state, county, zip code or congressional district. Other planned additions include plotting infrastructure awards vs. infrastructure need, education level (based on testing data) vs. Department of Education awards, and the inclusion of per-capita filters and other data options on maps and charts.

TMP Government was also responsible for ensuring that Recovery.gov 2.0 meets all 16 compliance requirements under section 508 of the U.S. government’s Rehabilitation Act. As time goes on, the site’s compliance capabilities will continue to expand, with the goal of making it one of the most accessible sites available.